The Most Sympathetic Character in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

1339 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Essay on victor frankenstein's character

The Most Sympathetic Character in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Frankenstein was written in 1816 by Mary Shelley when she was eighteen

years old. Her early life mirrored some of the main parts of the

story. For example Victor Frankenstein's mother died when he was

seventeen of scarlet fever and Mary Shelley's mother died in

childbirth. This shows a correlation between their pasts as both of

their mothers died when they were quite young Mary Shelley's father's

second wife discarded her and this is reminiscent of Victor and the

creature. Frankenstein is a Gothic novel and the Gothic style was very

popular at the time. The elements of a Gothic novel are, it is set at

night time and there are a lot of superstitious activities. Themes

related to Gothic novels include, the supernatural, mystery, horror,

surprise, anger, an extreme use of emotions and dreams or visions. The

Greek myth of Prometheus is reflected in Victor Frankenstein's

character. Prometheus gave fire to humans without the god's

permission. He was punished by having his liver eaten each day by a

bird. This relates to Victor Frankenstein because he created life

against god's wishes. Victor is punished by losing his wife, his

brother and ultimately himself to the monster.

In chapter one Victor Frankenstein is introduced to the reader. He was

born into an upper class family. He appears to be rather egotistical

and felt that he had the right to the best of everything. Examples of

this are, "I am by birth Genevese and my family is one of the most

distinguished of that republic", and, "I was their plaything and their

idol." This shows that he believed he was more important than his...

... middle of paper ...

... but kind-hearted

expressions towards Victor.

I feel most sympathetic to Victor overall after reading the whole

story because he tried to help people all the time and the entire

experiment was formed so that he could bring people back to life so

that they could enjoy more time with their loved ones. However, when

the creature was first created I felt sorry for the creature because

it was discarded by Victor before it had a chance to express itself

and it was totally rejected by mankind. Every person that the creature

met alienated him even though he attempted to befriend them. I thought

that this was very cruel but it did not give the creature the excuse

to murder Frankenstein's family. This was an act of rage and revenge

which caused me to completely change my mind about feeling sympathetic

towards the creature.

Show More
Related

  • How Is Frankenstein A Complex Character

    3255 Words  | 7 Pages

    Mary Shelley's Frankenstein as a Complex Character "Frankenstein" is a gothic horror novel which was written by Mary Shelly in 1818. It was inspired by a biological scientist named "Luigi Galvani". He had experimented with electricity and deceased frogs, and discovered that a charge passing through a inanimate frog's body will generate muscle spasms throughout its body. Frankenstein is about a man on a pursuit to create a perfect being, an "angel" however his experiment fails and his creation becomes an atrocity compared to an "angel". The creature is created using Luigi Galvani experiments of electricity and dead corpses of criminals, stitched together to form this creature.

    Read More

  • The Morally Ambiguity In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

    1901 Words  | 4 Pages

    “I do know that for the sympathy of one living being, I would make peace with all. I have love in me the likes of which you can scarcely imagine and rage the likes of which you would not believe. If I cannot satisfy the one, I will indulge the other.”

    Read More

  • Frankenstein: Mary Shelley's Ability to Create Sympathy for the Monster

    1840 Words  | 4 Pages

    Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is ‘one of the pioneering works of modern science fiction’, and is also a frightening story that speaks to the ‘mysterious fears of our nature’. Mary Shelley mocks the idea of “playing God”, the idea that came from the Greek myth of Prometheus, of the Greek titan who stole Zeus’ gift of life. Both the story of Frankenstein and Prometheus reveal the dark side of human nature and the dangerous effects of creating artificial life. Frankenstein reveals the shocking reality of the consequences to prejudging someone. The creature’s first-person narration reveals to us his humanity, and his want to be accepted by others even though he is different. We are shown that this ‘monster’ is a ‘creature’ and more of a human than we think.

    Read More

  • How does Mary Shelley use Gothic Conventions in Frankenstein?

    2545 Words  | 6 Pages

    Due to the conventions included in the novel, this is a perfect example of a gothic novel. The novel evokes in the audience fear and anticipation of the novels plot. The 19th century audience would have been overwhelmed with terror whilst reading the novel as the atmosphere creates suspense and the pace of the novel is fast.

    Read More

  • Victor Frankenstein: The Real Monster of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

    1574 Words  | 4 Pages

    Victor Frankenstein: The Real Monster. & nbsp; Science is a broad field that covers many aspects of everyday life and existence.  Some areas of science include the study of the universe, the environment, dinosaurs, animals, and insects.  Another popular science is the study of people and how they function.  In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Dr. Victor Frankenstein is an inspiring scientist who studies the dead.  He wants to be the first person to give life to a dead human being.  He spends all of his Frankenstein is to blame for the tragedy, not the monster he has created, because he is the   mastermind behind the whole operation, and he is supposed to have everything under control, working properly as a good scientist should. & nbsp; Although some critics say that the monster Victor has created is to blame for the destruction and violence that followed the experiment, it is Victor who is the responsible party.  First, Victor, being the scientist, should have known how to do research on the subject a lot more than he had done.  He obviously has not thought of the consequences that may result from it such as the monster going crazy, how the monster reacts to people and things, and especially the time it will take him to turn the monster into the perfect normal human being.&nbsp something that would take a really long time and a lot of patience which Victor lacks.  All Victor really wants is to be the first to bring life to a dead person and therefore be famous.  The greed got to his head and that is all he could think about, while isolating himself from his friends and family.  In the play of  Frankenstein, when Victor comes home and sets up his lab in the house, he is very paranoid about people coming in there and & nbsp; I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body.  For this I deprived myself of rest and health.  I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart. (156)  & nbsp; Victor is saying that he has isolated himself for two years and in the end, he is not at all happy because of the bad outcome.  He also adds, "Winter, spring and summer passed.so deeply was I engrossed in my occupation" (156).  By spending most of his time inside on his experiment, never going out, but mostly worrying about his success,  he has got himself crazier.  This has made him lose sight of his surroundings and judgment & nbsp; Moreover, the monster should not be held responsible for killing Victor's family members and friends as shown in the book and movie, because it is Victor who has brought a dead creature back to life.  He expects the monster to know everything when he wakes up cool, calm, and collected.  But when the monster is awakened, he does not know anything.  He sees a world different from what he is used to, which makes him get nervous and scared, so he&nb has removed him from  dead.  With the dawning of life, the monster has to learn about his new environment.  In the play of Frankenstein, the monster starts to gradually get used to things.  The problems he encounters are with Victor's assistant, Peter Krempe,  Victor's friend, Henry, and other family members, including Elizabeth, and these are reactions to how these people treat him.  These reactions are clearly shown in the movie of Young Frankenstein, where Victor tries to teach the monster how to live like to show off the monster to an audience in a dance routine of sorts.  But then people start to scream,  panic and throw things at the monster, so he reacts by attacking them to defend himself.  In this case, it is clear that Victor tries to push the monster too hard because he wants to be famous.  

    Read More

  • Sympathy In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

    829 Words  | 2 Pages

    In her novel titled ‘Frankenstein’, Mary Shelley employs many innovative literary techniques to elicit feelings of sympathy for the monster, even though the creature’s desire for revenge may render him incapable. Are readers able to respond compassionately to the creature even though he willingly makes Victor’s life miserable by murdering those close to him?

    Read More

  • Why Frankenstein's Creature Is The Most Sympathetic Character

    860 Words  | 2 Pages

    When Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein is analyzed, critics comes to a conclusion about Victor Frankenstein's creation. The creature invokes the most sympathy from the readers than any other character in the novel. Because he is abandoned by society which manipulates the creature to do evil things despite his good heart. Therefore Shelley's message throughout the novel is that a person is not born evil, they are made evil.

    Read More

  • Tragic Hero in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

    1080 Words  | 3 Pages

    Tragedy shows no discrimination and often strikes down on those undeserving of such turmoil. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, a creature more repulsive than one can imagine is brought to life by a young scientist. Although this creature is horrifying in sight, he is gentle by nature. Unfortunately, the softer side of the creature is repeatedly overlooked and the so called “monster” is driven to a breaking point. Even though the Creature committed many crimes, Mary Shelley’s Creature was the tragic hero of this story because of his efforts rescue the life of a young girl and helping destitute cottagers.

    Read More

  • The Human Need for Love in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

    1309 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Human Need for Love Exposed in Frankenstein Written in 1817 by Mary Shelley, Frankenstein is a novel about the "modern Prometheus", the Roman Titian who stole fire from the gods and gave it to man. The story takes place in several European countries during the late 1700's. It is the recollection of Victor Frankenstein, a ship captain, about his life. Victor is a student of science and medicine who discovers a way to reanimate dead flesh. In a desire to create the perfect race he constructs a man more powerful than any normal human, but the creation is so deformed and hideous that Victor shuns it.

    Read More

  • Character Development in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

    1648 Words  | 4 Pages

    In any novel the author is free to create and shape their characters in whatever way they see fit. In Frankenstein, Shelley does an excellent job of shaping her characters, be it however minute their part in the story, so that the reader gets a clear picture of Shelley's creations. It seems that each character in Shelley's Frankenstein is created by Shelley to give the reader a certain impression of the character. By doing this Shelley creates the characters the way she wants us to see them. She tells us certain things about them and gives them certain traits so that they will fit into the story the way she wants them to. In particular I will examine the characters of the monster, Elizabeth, and old man De Lacey.

    Read More

  • The Real Monster in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

    1205 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was first published in 1818, narrating the tales of Victor Frankenstein, an idiosyncratic scientist, his grotesque and “wretched” creation, and the disastrous events that befall. As the novel unfolds one question remains unanswered, who is the real monster? Many ponder if the “wretched” creation of Victor Frankenstein, who has murdered innocent people, is the real monster? Or is it Victor himself, for creating and than abandoning his creation? The answer is neither. When examining the text closely, the real monster becomes evident, the monster of prejudice. Prejudice is one of mankind's most unrelenting and destructive flaws. Prejudice is defined as the prejudgment, or a preconceived opinion, not based on reason or actual experience. Prejudice is a recurring theme throughout Frankenstein and is symbolized as a force parallel to that of a physical monster. In Frankenstein the theme of prejudice is found in the language, character descriptions, and character developments of the two main characters, Victor Frankenstein and his creation.

    Read More

  • The True Monster in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

    1051 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mary Shelley's book, Frankenstein, deals with the major dilemma of the creation of man. Rousseau deals with the topic of abandonment in Emile, which stemmed the thoughts of creation for Shelley in 1816 upon reading Rousseau's opinions. Rousseau blames the problems that children inhibit solely upon the parents shoulders (Mellor). Mary Shelley is able to relate to this statement on a personal level due to the parenting (or lack of) within her life. This in turn leads to a broader question concerning Shelley's Frankenstein; is the monster really the sole person to blame for his murderous actions? According to Rousseau's theory, the monster is not the sole problem. Victor Frankenstein is his creator or "father" figure thus giving him the responsibility of his monster.

    Read More

  • Finding Virtue in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

    812 Words  | 2 Pages

    Virtue is found at the margins of society more often than at its center. In Frankenstein, the novel by Mary Shelley, the monster exemplifies virtue to a greater extent than his creator, Victor Frankenstein. Shelley's creature is an isolate of great sensitivity, kindness, and insight. Contrary to James Whale's 1931 film, Frankenstein, which portrays the creature as a lumbering dolt, Shelley's monster was modeled on Rousseau's notion of humanity as the "noble savage". The nobility of the creature is evident as encounters a simple French family and observes and draws form the quirks of humanity.

    Read More

  • The Gothic Novel Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

    1407 Words  | 3 Pages

    the elements of a gothic novel as it is not set in a remote place or a

    Read More

  • What Is Mary Shelley's Personality In Frankenstein

    919 Words  | 2 Pages

    As I, both personally and with the class, have explored the many important themes and ideas in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Dr. Frankenstein’s personality has become extremely clear to me. I have been able to grasp his personality and his likes and dislikes, and all the while, I have been comparing and contrasting his qualities to myself. Frankenstein is a very passionate and straightforward man; he knows who he is. Frankenstein understands the things he needs in his life to maintain his happiness, specifically his relationships and companionships, and his passion for science. However, as I start to think of how are both similar and different, I start to see this concept of the windows and the mirrors; Frankenstein prefers fewer, closer friends, while I see

    Read More

More about The Most Sympathetic Character in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Open Document